Westerleigh Park

STAR EMPLOYEES OF DECEMBER 2001

John S. (Johann) Bachman is Bronx’s Employee
of the Month for December. Johann joined Parks on May
11, 1981 and currently works as the Bronx Deputy Chief of Operations. Johann
oversees Shops, Borough Crews, Night Security, Storehouses, Purchasing, and
is the Dean of Discipline. Johann has focused on improving the Bronx Shops and
ensuring that work orders are quickly filled. Currently, the Bronx has no incomplete
work orders older than 30 days, and the shop is meeting other goals for their
work orders as well. Johann has helped the Bronx achieve substantial improvements
in overall condition ratings in the last 8 years. A long time contributor to
the Bronx, Johann is organized and dedicated. He was nominated by Zorro.

Michael H. (Satellite) Dockett is Brooklyn’s Employee of the Month for December. Satellite joined Parks on June 17, 1985 and is currently Brooklyn’s Chief of Recreation. Previously, Satellite served as Director of Rangers for the Bronx and Director of Central Communications. Satellite oversees Brooklyn’s 7 recreation centers, including Brownsville and Met Pool, which serve nearly 50,000 New Yorkers monthly. Under his leadership, programming has expanded and reporting systems have been implemented. Satellite has also led a restoration of Sunset Park and St. John’s recreation centers. A Davis Award winner in 1994, Satellite has risen through the ranks and is a senior and important contributor to Parks’ management team. He was nominated by Mirror.

Bradley S. (Straight) Romaker is Capital Projects’ Employee of the Month for December. Straight joined Parks on December 8, 1999 and currently works as an Assistant Landscape Architect in Requirements Contracts at Capital. Straight is responsible for over half of Requirements’ nearly 250 Greenstreet projects. He works with contractors from start to finish, designing sites, choosing plant material, and assisting on site to ensure that projects are completed successfully. Straight also lent his talents to recent projects such as the Great Kills Veteran’s Memorial in Staten Island, which had its ribbon cutting December 2, and the Avenue T Greentstreet in Brooklyn, which had its ribbon cutting December 4. For greening our Emerald Empire, Straight was nominated by Atlanta.

Ron (Supervisor) Weber is Citywide Services’ Employee of the Month for December. Ron joined Parks on October 14, 1986 and currently works as the Supervisor of Vehicle Acquisitions at 5-Boro. Supervisor has helped us expand equipment acquisitions program from $1.5 million in FY97 to $5.5 million today, enabling us to update equipment specifications for more than 40 types of vehicles and replace substantial portions of the fleet, including 60% of packers. Supervisor has also played a key role in our six-year effort to lower citywide out of service rates from 15% to 5%. Parks’ most technically proficient expert on equipment, Supervisor is a long time asset at 5-Boro. He was nominated by Kermit.

Jeremy D. (Snowball) Peterson is Management’s Employee of the Month for December. Snowball began with Parks on June 21, 1999 as an analyst with OMP where he learned the Park Inspection Program (PIP), analyzed trends, and prepared first class reports. He moved to StarQuest’s office where he worked as an Assistant until he was promoted to Director of OMP in January, 2001. Snowball has played a lead role in establishing a performance reporting system for citywide trades, while continuing to expand our inspection program. Snowball has also helped launch the revamped ParkStat+ program. Hardworking and smart, Snowball has assumed, in a short time, one of Parks’ most critical positions. He was nominated by Iceman.

Warrie (WhirlyBird) Price is Manhattan’s Employee of the Month for December. In 1994 WhirlyBird founded the Conservancy for Historic Battery Park and since then she has served as its President. She was appointed Administrator of Battery Park and Director of Harbor Park in 1995 by StarQuest. WhirlyBird is working to implement a $55 million plan to rebuild Manhattan’s historic Battery Park, including the grounds of the park and the Castle Clinton Monument. In Battery Park she is overseeing a $5.6 million capital project to restore the park’s waterfront and seawall, and in Harbor Park she is administering $4.6 million in New York State funds to build a visitor center at Pier A. WhirlyBird’s dedication to preserving and improving our historic downtown green spaces is more important now than ever. For her outstanding contributions, WhirlyBird was nominated by A-Train.

Ernestine J. (Lizard) Ward is Queens’ Employee of the Month for December. Lizard joined Parks on August 17, 1998 and works as an outreach coordinator for Partnerships for Parks. In her role as such, Lizard educates and mobilizes neighborhood groups around their local parks, and organizes and facilitates community meetings. She recently helped the Friends of Rufus King Park gain a grant to run a community vision planning program. Lizard has also worked to form coalitions for Haggerty Park, the Hollis LIRR Station Greenstreet, and Brookville Park. For her hard work to promote and expand support of Queens Parks, Lizard was nominated by Donegal.

Mark H. (Pythons) Schulz is Staten Island’s Employee of the Month for December. Pythons joined Parks on January 17, 1983 and currently works as a SPMO in District 1, which includes Clove Lakes Park and Westerleigh Park. Pythons oversee general maintenance and ratable features for the district which has achieved 98.3% Cleanliness and 96.6% Overall Condition ratings in 2001. He takes the time to make sure jobs are completed correctly, and is hardworking and flexible. For his contributions to Staten Island, Pythons was nominated by Gary (Meteor) Zerilli.

David L. (StarkEast) Stark is the Commissioner’s Employee of the Month for December. StarkEast began with Parks on March 24, 1986 in the Permit Office. He is now Parks Comptroller, overseeing a wide variety of critical functions including Budget, Labor Relations, Personnel, MIS, Training, Engineering Audit, Purchasing, and more. StarkEast has played a critical role in Parks’ major initiatives including workfare, managed competition, broad-banding of titles, and personnel re-organization. Whether fighting for our budget, answering audits, calming tensions, or weaving through the bureaucratic process, StarkEast’s is one of the most ubiquitous, successful, and well-liked Parkies

Nineteen eighty-eight proved another busy year for Operations.
The "5x5" and "1x1" projects gave facelifts to hundreds
of parks and playgrounds. Steps were taken to fight illegal dumpers, more American
flags were hoisted on parkland, ballfields were restored, and a new style of
play equipment was introduced for children.